MOSCOW, October 16 (RAPSI) – Moscow's Meshchansky District Court on Tuesday ordered detention of the former court-appointed receiver of Transaero air carrier Mikhail Kotov, who stands charged with embezzlement and abuse of office, until December 15, the court's spokesperson Yulia Kotomina told RAPSI.
According to investigation, Kotov’s action resulted in embezzlement of the airline’s property worth over 1 billion rubles ($15.3 million). Moreover, he forged some documents to suppress crimes allegedly committed in conspiracy with the former Transaero CEO Alexander Burdin, the statement reads.
Burdin was reportedly arrested in absentia this August. According to investigators, he caused damage estimated at more than 1.7 billion rubles ($26 million).
Transaero found itself unable to pay its debts valued at 250 billion rubles (about $4 billion) in 2015. The government-approved plan of transferring 75% of company’s shares to Aeroflot failed. Its problems resulted in a large number of flight cancels and delays.
In October 2015, Sberbank and Alfa Bank filed bankruptcy petitions against the troubled airline. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region initiated bankruptcy procedure against Transaero on December 16. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region declared Transaero air carrier bankrupt in September 2017.